Have Beyonce and Rihanna Lightened Their Skin? Mica Paris Thinks So

The subject matter of celebrities and skin lightening has most definitely not gone unnoticed but until now hasn’t really been discussed much by major media the tabloids.

This is surprising since celebrity cosmetic surgery is something that is seen on the front cover of magazines for such a long time, and continues to be as celebrities get cosmetic nip, tucks and exaggerated tweaks.

British soul singer Mica Paris discusses stars such as Beyonce, Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez and their ever lightening skin. In her article written for Daily Mail, asking why do black celebrities seem to want whiter skin.

Check out some of what Mica had to say below:

I have no doubt that the widely held belief that to be darker makes you in some way inferior is to blame for this trend — something that undoubtedly harks way back to the days of colonialism and slavery, where the children born of affairs with masters were granted better jobs on account of their paler skin.

You might well ask why such views persist at a time when the U.S. President is half-Kenyan and the likes of stunning 12 Years A Slave actress Lupita Nyong’o are winning Oscars.

In my opinion, it’s because Lupita, with her very dark complexion, is a rarity. And even then, last year Vanity Fair was accused of lightening her skin on the cover of its January issue.

Meanwhile, role models like Beyonce are looking more Caucasian by the minute. Young black women will inevitably follow suit until we do something to counter these distorted ideals of feminine beauty.

Unhappiness with skin colour does not just haunt the darker skinned among us, either. At the other end of the spectrum, many white people seem to dislike being so pale.

Only this week, the widely respected columnist and former Tory MP Matthew Parris wrote an extraordinary article saying that, if he had the choice, he ‘wouldn’t be a whitey’ because he feels pale skin looks like ‘a kind of mutation, as though some key pigment were missing from birth’. Plenty of women appear to agree — cue gallons of fake tan to achieve a fashionable sun-kissed appearance.

And this isn’t just about colour. What we are really looking at here is the mass cloning of womankind.

If you look around the red carpet these days, it is little more than a clone parade. Regardless of the ethnicity of the women concerned, it’s all washboard stomachs, nipped-in waists, pneumatic bosoms, full lips, tiny, straight noses, wide eyes and manes of thick, ironed hair.

But where such homogenising becomes most concerning is where it involves women effectively seeking to change their race. And that certainly isn’t confined to celebrities.

Skin-lightening has become a massive industry. According to a report by Global Industry Analysts in 2012, it was set to be worth $10 billion (£6.5 billion) worldwide by this year.

The pressure on famous women — of all races — to attain a certain ideal is enormous. And, despite the advances of feminism, I believe the expectations placed on our shoulders are heavier than ever. You can tell by how little today’s stars wear that titillation trumps talent. No one is saying the likes of Beyonce and Rihanna aren’t eminently talented; it’s just that this fact is drowned out by all the emphasis on their looks.

Why this worrying regression? I put it down to the rise of the cult of celebrity and the increase in cosmetic surgery over the past 30 years or so. Not only is it easier to change your appearance fundamentally, it’s positively expected.